and put the Raptors in a good position to maintain their 8 point lead heading toward crunch time … i.e. the final 10 minutes … in the 4th quarter.

#3. According to the 5-man unit stats at 82games.com, the Raptors have yet to try the combination of:

Calderon/PG + Weems/OG + Turkolgu/SF + Bosh/PF + Bargnani/C

this season for any significant stretch of playing time.

Although Sonny Weems has yet to convert a 3PT-shot in his NBA career, at 6-6, 203 he is an athletic defender/rebounder, at the OG position, who:

i. Shoots 45% on his 2FGAs
ii. Slashes well to the basket, in both half and full court situations
iii. Has the ability to draw fouls, and
iv. Plays with a high degree of energy.

An effective compliment to the specific skill-sets of Jose Calderon [i.e. a good ball-handler and perimeter shooter], Hedo Turkoglu [i.e. a solid ball-handler and perimeter shooter], Andrea Bargnani [i.e. a good perimeter shooter] and Chris Bosh [i.e. a good mid-range/low-post scorer] … Sonny Weems is the player who the Raptors need to play at the OG position when the opposition elects to go “small” vs Toronto, like the Pacers did, during key stretches of Monday’s game.

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[...] khandor’s sports blog » Productive 5-man units for Toronto vs Indiana When the Pacers first went “small”, at the 08:09 mark of the 2nd quarter, down by 22 points, what the Raptors needed to do in response was: [...]

Interesting stuff that has been intuitively obvious for some time — now there’s numbers to back it up!

What about DeRozan? I think he has a fairly similar game to Weems, maybe a little better offensively and on the boards and a little worse defensively? Playing JC/JJ/HT/CB/AB in crunch time is absolutely killing us. It’s the no defense / no rebounding lineup (save for CB, obviously).

Khan – what’s your take on the Bosh-Bynum trade rumor? My preference would be to keep Bosh, but if that’s not going to happen I can’t see the Raps getting a better offer than that. Bynum looked pretty good last night against TD… although putting him beside Bargs would not work very well. (I’m just speaking in terms of the talent level we’d be getting back.)

I actually like him a lot as a player going forward, as I think he’s got top-notch athleticism, a good body, and a very nice feel for the game given his youth. I think that if he tightens up his handle a fair bit and adds some range to his jumper (although his form is solid, so I think this will happen with time) he can become a very nice player. In terms of D, I think he’s improved a lot already this year and certainly has the physical tools to continue to improve in that area. Most of all, he seems like a great kid that wants to improve. But maybe this is me looking for a ray of sunlight in an otherwise dark time in the history of this franchise…

One other thing — at this point, I’m fully convinced that Bargs has the physical tools to be a solid defender (not a great one, but a solid one). He’s not that slow (when he wants to move quickly). The biggest issue is his commitment/desire to play D… a sad statement indeed, given that hoops is his job. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen him hedge out nicely on a PNR, but as soon as the ball is passed off, he straightens up and loafs back to his man at half speed. I know this is a re-hash of your old blog posts, but it’s time for the kid gloves to come off with this guy.

Although his overall “awareness” is still lacking … e.g. in terms of providing the appropriate level of help to his teammates and making an extended effort to block shots by coming from a fair distance off the ball … he is now closing the gap, in this regard, on the other good young centers across the league that was once extremely wide.

3. As I’ve said for a long time now … i.e. in fact, prior to starting this blog … there have always been plenty of worthwhile assets in the Raptors’ war chest:

which, unfortunately, is still very much in doubt, from my perspective.

The real problem with this organization has never ever been with its players and their individual short-comings [e.g. Bargnani's relative lack of defensive ability].

Instead, the real problems have always been:

1. The ownership of MLSE.
2. The GM’s who the owners have decided to hire for the Raptors and the Maple Leafs.
3. The specific Sport Philosophy of those GM’s.
————————————————————————————
4.A. The coaching staffs that those GM’s have then decided to hire.
4.B. The key players who those GM’s have then decided to acquire via the Draft, trades and free agency.
5. The specialist role players who GM’s have then decided to acquire via the Draft, trades and free agency.